Butchers 201

Having gotten a good number of Butcher games under my belt (and out of my system) during our first Big League, I finally feel halfway qualified to write another of these mid-level articles about another team.

Overall the Butchers are characterized by the ability to deal huge amounts of damage in combat and generate tons of momentum if they get to do so. They balance this by being the least reliable kickers in the game (not necessarily in scoring goals - their goal threat is ok, but their accuracy is lowest amongst the guilds) and being one of the least survivable combat guilds (average overall for the game).

Ox
Captain, Attacking Midfielder

• Ox is the quintessential support captain - while he is capable of dealing respectable amounts of damage in melee (he IS the Master Butcher, after all), he generally does not bring as much bang for your buck when using INF compared to the rest of his team. As a result, he usually gets less influence than he contributes to the team, and uses it to throw out buffs/debuffs and position himself effectively.
• Speaking of positioning, Ox is above all a walking aura of death. For no INF whatsoever, Ox brings a 4" aura of +1 damage to his team in The Owner. Optimizing this aura is key to mastering Ox. On top of this, Ox's legendary play Get 'em Lads! is an even bigger aura that brings an additional +1 damage to friendlies and -1ARM to enemies. Stack these effects and watch opposing players disappear in a puff of red mists and flying chunks of meat.
• Ox's spells are oriented towards melee support - Tough Skin for +1 ARM is excellent on almost any Butcher (especially Brisket, or Ox himself), They Ain't Tough! stacks on top of his legendary to make ARM disappear (stellar against Masons!) and Butchery gives yet ANOTHER +1 damage. That's +3 damage total, meaning almost any Butcher generates a minimum of 4 damage for 1 INF against any target.
• The reason Ox usually does not want to use a lot of INF himself, despite his 7 TAC and constant aura, is that his playbook is not particularly great relative to the rest of his team - thanks to The Owner, he does have 2 damage on 1 hit, but his next damage result is 3 damage on 4 hits. His damage does not spike near the top of his playbook and he does not wrap as easily as other Butchers. Having a push on 1 hit and a double push on 3 hits is quite useful for counter attacks however, especially combined with his legendary turn's -1 ARM debuff.

In terms of weaknesses, other than the lower powered playbook, his team's reliance on his aura forces the Butchers to bunch up more than they would like to at times, which can hurt against players like Smoke or Commanding Aura brawlers.
He is also 3+/1 with 19 boxes, which overall is decent, and becomes much better with Tough Skin. However, his tendency to activate early to position for the aura or his legendary can make him vulnerable and a little predictable.

The pretty face of Guild Ball

Fillet
Captain, Striker

• While Ox is the quintessential support captain, Fillet is a greedy superstar. She wants influence, and a lot of it. She does little for anyone else in the team, other than arguably Quick Foot (which, no surprise, she makes excellent use of herself given her high speed). She'll probably be your top damage dealer AND your top goal scorer most games.
• One thing that Fillet brings to the Butchers is a serious goal-scoring threat. Between her high 7/9" MOV, Quick Foot, Smell Blood and Blood Dance, she is ridiculously mobile, rivalled on the team only by Shank. On top of this very high mobility, she has the second best kick stat in the team (second to only the 3/8" Brisket) and with a little momentum, she has no problem putting the ball to the post. She is, after all, a striker :)
• While Butchers are mostly focused on single target damage, Fillet is personally able to deal out sizable AoE damage with Pain Circle and Blood Rain. Stack this with her Haemophilia aura which prevents Bleed effects from expiring within 6" of her and her Legendary play which causes an instant bleed tick (all of which get around Tough Hide, by the way), and you've got a lot of damage all over the place.
• Her ability to deal huge amounts of damage through Bleed and bleed ticks is also why you often want Fillet to activate late in the turn. This allows her to put bleed up on everyone, deal some damage, pop her legendary, and then get another 3 damage at the start of the next turn. If you win first turn, you can then go first with Fillet and kill everything thanks to Smell Blood and Blood Dance.

So what are the weaknesses of this super mobile slaughter machine? First, she has no defensive tech outside her 5+ DEF. If you can circumvent this, you can focus her down quite effectively, and given her importance in the lineup, it is quite advisable to do so. Thousand Cuts for instance is almost a death sentence if you can auto-hit her with it.
Second, her playbook has no early dodges or pushes, making her quite vulnerable to counter attacks and also making it hard to get out of combat IF the target is not bleeding. She relies quite a bit on getting 4 hits on the charge to get Blood Rain off.
Third, and primarily as a compounding effect of the above issue, is her 1" melee zone.

Princess
Mascot

• The greatest benefit Princess brings to your team doesn't appear on her card - her synergies with Boiler and Brisket, which turns them into serious damage dealers. 
• For Brisket, this comes in the form of a +2 TAC buff if the two are within 4" of each other. This makes Brisket TAC 6 with a 4 long playbook - throw in a Ganging Up bonus or two, and you've got an easy wrap. Throw in one of Ox's damage buffs or Tooled Up, and you've got some serious damage coming out of your timid striker.
• Boiler has an Assist bonus with Princess, effectively giving him +2 TAC and +1 DMG when he attacks a target that Princess is engaging. This turns Boiler into a TAC 7, Anatomical Precision model with a 5 long playbook... which brings some wraps, which stack up with damage buffs really well... you get the idea.
• Finally, Princess has remarkably good combat capabilities for a mascot. TAC 4, 6/8" MOV and a pretty good combat playbook with momentous damage, Bleed and Rabid Animal (a movement debuff!).

The downside to this little death beacon is that she has to get up close and personal to really get work out of her abilities. This can not only telegraph your tactics (if you see Princess engage someone, who know Boiler wants to get in there soon after), but it leaves her vulnerable to attack (especially with no push or dodge on her playbook). Loved Creature helps with his to some extent, but once you've lost your mascot, that's a precious 1 INF for the Butcher team permanently off the field.



Truffles
Mascot

• The most important thing about Truffles is that the fat pig is unusually hard to kill for a mascot. And she isn't even sneaky about it - no sturdy stats like Flask, no fancy escape shenanigans like Naja, nor revive effects like Dirge. Just a fat hog with 11 boxes, Sturdy and Tough Hide. On top of that, she has a 1" push on the first column of her playbook, and a character play that allows her to run away after taking damage. The amount of effort needed to bring down this piggy is more than it appears at first glance.
• Truffle's playbook is not particularly great, however it does have two redeeming features - she has a KD on two hits, and a short playbook. The KD is great on parting blows, and the short playbook means that wraps are likely on the charge especially with a few crowding out bonuses and Smell Blood. Her damage dealing isn't as consistent as Princess, but it is still quite high for a mascot.
• 40mm base also pretty good at crowding things out, blocking charge lanes, or blocking LoS to the goal :)

Truffle's weakness is obvious - she's not Princess. She lacks synergies with players and her damage isn't quite as consistent. It's hard to pass up Princess if you have either Boiler or Brisket on your team, but otherwise Truffles is a pretty good way to get a bit tankier in combat and keep your mascot influence on the table a little longer while having easy access to a momentous KD.

And here are our players, from best to worst:



Shank
Winger

• The first thing that strikes you about Shank is that he is one of the most mobile non-captain players in the game. Although his 5/8" MOV is only slightly above average, having Where'd They Go as a character play, 2" melee zone, Damaged Target as a trait and dodges on every playbook damage result makes him an incredible winger and slippery as a Fish. He can basically get where ever he wants at any time, and is excellent coming back on the pitch after some icy sponges.
• With a TAC of 6, 2" melee and and a sweet playbook, he is a source of consistent momentous damage and makes stellar use of the Butchers' damage buffs. Shank is the archetypal Butcher in that sense - just straight up reliable when it comes to damage. If you give him influence, he will deal damage and generate you momentum - easy as that.
• One often overlooked aspect of the vice captain is his access to Thousand Cuts, which is one of the strongest debuffs in the game at -2DEF. Sure, you are often choosing between this and 3+ momentous damage, but if Shank activates early and hits this playbook result, it can make the difference between an enemy player surviving or being pulverized.

His weaknesses are obvious and to the inexperienced, perhaps even crippling - 4+/0 defensive stat with 14 health boxes, and only 2/6" KICK. He is not very survivable and isn't particularly good at scoring goals despite his great mobility.
In play however, once you learn to use him effectively and keep him safe using his mobility, his mediocre stat line can be mitigated, and his momentum generation helps make up for his poor KICK stat.

Getting these chains to stay on is an achievement in itself.

Boiler
Winger

Info on Boiler can be found on my Cornerstone article. I'll just summarize it here:

•  Boiler is the best support player in Butchers outside Ox - his two character plays can be extremely useful in the right situation. Swift Stance is a solid buff of straight +1 DEF, bringing Fillet to 6+ or Brisket to 6+/1 vs males - very potent. Even bringing himself to 5+/1 is very good.
  Marked Target is not quite as useful, but has some great uses - either in popping 1-off abilities like Clone or Gluttonous Mass, or even using it on a counter attack to unexpectedly increase threat range. The fact that it cost 1 and is available on only 1 hit makes it valuable.
• Boiler is also possibly the best damage on the team with the right set up (basically, getting Ox's buffs up and Princess in melee with the target).
• Anatomical Precision and Crucial Artery - the little kid lands hits and gets bleeds for extra damage and extra synergy. Simple, effective, magical. What a player.

No critical downsides, although having a 1" melee and relying on Princess in order to reach his true damage potential can make him a bit predictable. Also has a non momentous damage result! Shock.




Brisket
Striker

•  Brisket is the best kicker in the team by a mile - 3/8" KICK baseline makes her the best kicker in Butchers, and has Super Shot! on top of that for 4/10", second only to Angel's 5/10". Having a 18" goal threat without external help is pretty good and gives Butchers some semblance of a football team.
•  She is also arguably one of the tankiest Butchers thanks to Charmed [Male] - 5+/1 against most targets in the game. Throw any defensive buff up and she becomes really tough - 6+/1 with Swift Stance, 5+/2 with Tough Skin.... oh, and Unpredictable Movement.
• Finally, one of the greatest aspects of Brisket is that while she is a goal-scoring machine, she is still a Butcher and can deal sizable amounts of damage with a little set up. Short playbook with a good amount of momentous 2 damage results on her playbook, made only more ridiculous by her +2 TAC buff from Princess. Great late-turn damage dealer.

Brisket's main downsides are that she is relatively static for a striker (like Angel), having a low base TAC and no dodge result on 1 hit, and her first momentous dodge results on 3 hits. She also does rely quick a bit on Princess on order to wrap and therefore deal Butcher-worthy damage.




Veteran Brisket
Winger

• When you boil it down, vetBrisket is a more aggressive, mobile and supportive version of Brisket1. Her key strengths come down to her 3 special rules:
• Above and Beyond grants her team a permanent +1 INF for the rest of the game. In the influence-hungry Butcher team, that is HUGE, especially if you are playing the influence-hungry Fillet. If you manage to get an early goal with Brisket (not too difficult, with her good speed), then she has pretty much paid for herself already. Try and make it happen!
• Support from the Wing gives her a -1 INF discount to charges if she begins within 8" of a pitch edge. This makes her very INF efficient and tactically flexible. With the 2 INF she brings, you can charge in, steal the ball off a Close Control model (thanks to momentous Ball's Gone! on 4 hits) and take a shot on goal. Alternatively, you can use that 2 INF to Quick Time someone - one of the few movement buffs in Butchers.
• Unpredictable Movement is great on a winger, especially with a 4+/1 stat. She does lose Charmed Male so is significantly more vulnerable, but overall it would put her above average in the survivability department for her team.

I have only managed a handful of games with Brisket2, but it is quite apparent that her biggest weakness really is that she competes with Brisket1 for a slot on the team, meaning that your kicking/scoring potential with Butchers is capped (which is the intent, without a doubt).

She also doesn't quite have the same damage potential of Brisket1 due to the longer playbook, but she has a lot more variety in that playbook in terms of dodging and tackling the ball especially.

Huge weapon - no reach. Seems legit.

Tenderizer
Goalkeeper

• Tenderizer is the best dedicated goal tender in the game. He has both of the goaltender traits - Rush Keeper and Goal Defense - whereas Compound and vetVelocity only have one each. Just by having him within 4" of the goal, with no INF, he makes scoring quite a bit harder for anything but dedicated strikers.
• His playbook is pretty solid, especially for counter charging - low pushes, KD on 3, and with excellent results on 4 and 5 hits. Throw in 2" melee zone, 3+/1 with 19 boxes (same as Ox!) and you've got a pretty decent brawler on your hands.
• Last of all, and worth mentioning, is that Ground Pound is ridiculously powerful. A huge AoE of KD on top of 2 damage and 2" push is really strong if you can get it from a playbook result. The downside of course is that it costs 4 INF otherwise, and also affects friendly models, making it very situational. Powerful, but dangerously so.

Tenderizer's weaknesses are subtle but very significant, and mostly come down to his position.
 In my experience the main issue is that because his free goaltending benefits are so tasty, you often feel reluctant to bring him up the board and involved in the fight, which objectively speaking would probably be much better given his 2" melee and decent playbook (especially if the enemy team has access to dodgy strikers). If you're doing that of course, why wouldn't you just bring another player that brings 2 INF to the table to get more attacks in?
This then works into his 1/4 INF. While he protects the goal quite well for 0 INF between Rush Keeper, Goal Defense and his medium base, he requires quite a bit of INF to do anything else - even just getting the ball to Seismic Kick it back to your team costs 2 INF, and a guaranteed Ground Pound costing 4. The part that stings is that you never really know if he'll use that INF or not, since he is usually far from the action  (speaking of INF, he also only brings 1, compared to Compound's 2/4 for example). 1 INF basically allows him to run into play and crowd someone.

Compound and vetVelocity on the other hand, also do pretty well up the field. Compound's Horrific Odour debuff, 2" melee and Gluttonous Mass can make him a competent defensive model upfield even with only 1 INF, and Velocity has Fly Keeper to turn her into a semi-legit striker if needed. Tenderizer sits on the goal with no INF, pretty much all the time, and this can often lead you to play 1 player down if your opponent just focuses on takeouts for a bit.

Tenderizer's art is based off the legendary Ken Dryden's game pose.

And now moving on to the true runts of the litter....




Meathook
Attacking Midfielder

• Meathook actually has a lot of redeeming qualities and is not a bad player. First and most importantly, her offensive stats are very solid. MOV 6/8", TAC 6 and KICK 3/6" are all pretty solid, and she is the second best kicker on the team! Helpful to get momentum and teamwork happening.
• She can deal good to great damage in the right situation. With a momentous 1 DMG on one hit (2 on 3 hits), she can deal pretty decent damage. If you live the dream you can Scything Blow 2-3 enemy players and get bleeds up on everyone - usually you will just hit the same target multiple times though. Additionally she has a push on 2 hits, which can help her survive through counter attacks.
• She brings Tooled Up. Great play for Butchers! More on that later though.
• Finally, and perhaps her defining quality, is her heroic play Sanguine Pool: -4/-4 MOV and 1 DMG to all enemies suffering conditions within 3". That is a big AoE. It triggers not only off Bleed, but also KD and Poison (available in Butchers through Rabid Animal and Dirty Knives). It's an excellent control play, especially if she can do it before moving away, or first activation of the turn after landing a Scything Blow on 3+ targets (THE DREAM).
  EDIT - remember that since it does 1 point of damage, it will trigger Crucial Artery and thus inflict Bleed on everyone affected (ie. those suffering conditions already). Nice bonus. Thanks Trent :)

In terms of weaknesses, I will quote Football Legend Will "Wheaton" Wijnveld:

"4+/0. 1" melee. 1/4. Garbage."

Her defensive stats are mediocre with 14 boxes, so like many Butchers, she is quite prone to death. Her only redeeming defensive ability is the aforementioned push result on 2 hits.

1" melee range is IMO not that big a deal all things considered, but it certainly is a bit of a downer when you rely on the Scything Blow/Crucial Artery combo to justify a lot of your influence feed and when you can compare her to the 2/4, TAC 5 Anatomical Gutter with Scything Blow on 4 hits....

The 1/4 INF is comparable to Graves1's problem - although she can do really cool things with 4 INF in the right situation, she does almost nothing for the 1 INF that she brings, outside Tooled Up.

Finally, the comparison to Rage is inevitable. Both bring 1 INF, both bleed people, both deal good momentous damage, and both have Tooled Up. While Meathook has a higher potential (if you give her 4 times the INF), Rage is a lot more consistent in damage and momentous on top of being more survivable.
It's not that Meathook is that bad, just that other options are better most of the time at doing very similar things.




Boar
Attacking Midfielder

• Boar is really about one thing - dealing efficient damage. Berserk and Furious make him very efficient at doing so. He brings only 1 INF, but can make 4 attack with that INF. His TAC of 8 also means he is likely to get pretty good results (he does have 3 momentous on 4 hits) on the charge.
  If you manage to stack buffs on him and get him in on a low DEF/crowded out model with a damage buff or two (ie. The Owner), he is going to pulverize almost any player for next to no resource investment.
• 2" melee is pretty good for Butchers. It helps him with counter attacks (at which he is pretty good with a KD on 3 hits).

Despite this, Boar is in my opinion on of the bottom 5 models in the game.
His biggest downsize by far is that he is the least survivable model in the game on top of being easily controlled - 2+/0 and SPD 4/6". The only other model with a 2+/0 stat line is Stave, who at least has Tough Hide and a strong ranged presence. Boar has Regenerate, which to be honest is severely undertuned for a survival ability on a 2+/0 model.
Throw any controlling character play his way, and he is more or less out of action, given that he lacks any team buffs or synergies.
He is very prone to counter attacks IF he does not KD on his first attack, which neuters his damage output significantly as it not only throw his charge damage out, but also stops the use of a Berserk attack.

His playbook is not especially good for a model 100% focused on fighting - 8 long, mostly 1 row, no compound results. Just incremental momentous damage, some non-momentous pushes, Hamstring and KD on 3, and non momentous 4 damage and concussion on 8 hits. It's not bad, but it's not quite enough for what he wants to do. Having more compound results and a stronger upper playbook (ie. momentous KD + 3 DMG on 5/6 hits) might help remedy this.

Like Meathook, he is more or less replaced by the more consistent, survivable and synergistic Rage. The two advantages Boar over Rage are that he is affected by Butcher damage buffs and 2" melee. He is inferior in all other ways (including buff-free damage, thanks mostly to Rage's Crucial Artery)

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So there you have it - a mediocre Butchers player's take on what I think is a pretty underrated team with a surprising amount of depth, despite being easy to pick up. Here's hoping for some errata to make Meathook and Boar slightly more interesting/viable in the competitive game to broaden their bench a little.

Morticians 201

Because all the games I've played (a little more than ten?) - and (as predicted) having not played for weeks due to the imminent and now recent start of the school year - qualifies me to write this, here's some insight and next levelling into the morbid masters of mischief, mayhem, and model movement manipulation.

Classic Morticians humour.

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Obulus

Defensive Midfielder, Captain


- The most important thing to know about Obulus is that he is without doubt going to screw you massively at some point and that the flexibility of his shenanigans makes him extraordinarily hard to predict. This is largely due to the unbelievable OPness that is Puppet Master and the 1 INF cost, cast on all your friends and yourself, "let's manipulate the dice math" Confidence. These two Character Plays combined with his deceptive movement abilities, Reach, and a surprisingly ball-busting (albeit nuanced) Legendary Play do in fact a captain make! He looks slow, his Kick seems pretty pathetic, and his defensive stats are nothing to write home about. In actual fact he is hella fast, his Kick is legit solid due to his potentially crazy speed and ability to manipulate Momentum, and you can't punch what you can't engage. This semi- unwritten added mobility can seal the deal in the heat of the game if/when your opponent forgets to account for it in their own planning.

- His team buffs are either real (affecting a friendly model) or artificial (affecting an enemy model) threat range extenders and again this stems from effective and timely application of Puppet Master. And Confidence. If you haven't taken a Confidenced, Furious Charging, Crazy!, Damage Supported Cosset to the face then you just haven't lived!

- His impact on the game is so driven by Puppet Master that not giving him at least 4 INF automatically feels like a terrible mistake almost regardless of his position on the field. In fact it's so easy to load him up with the maximum of a mind-boggling 8 INF and have him do all the work that here in the Dojo he's actually been renamed Captain Obvious.

Probably a Magic joke. I wouldn't know. I've never played.

- So it would be remiss of me to write this and not delve at least a little into what Puppet Master can accomplish in the game. Here are a some things that have happened in my own experience:

• Obulus' personal threat range is 14" (straight line) before he punches anything to get a (Momentous) Dodge on one hit. Shadow Like (2" Dodge) + Sprint (6") + Puppet Master himself (4" jog) + Melee Zone/Reach (2"). It costs him 5 INF just to achieve this threat but that also means... he can kick for goal from a staggering 18" away! And if you happen to win the game in that activation then it doesn't really matter how much it cost you to make it happen. Pre-measuring in Guild Ball and the use of proxy bases is an enormous benefit for the discerning Morticians player!
• Forcing an enemy player to Pass the Ball -  there's a whole lot of jank going on with this play. If you manage to target a model with a good to excellent Kick stat you can all but ensure a point of Momentum from a successful Pass. Jackpot time if they are Kick 3/8" and don't forget that because this is the friendly successful exchange of the ball you not only gain a point of Momentum but can trigger a Pass 'n Move 4" Dodge after receiving it! Again this gives Obulus himself unprecedented personal threat on the goal depending on field position, especially if he can receive the ball after Shadow Like but before a Jog/Sprint/Charge. Finally, the passing model counts as a friendly player so in addition to all the other aforementioned benefits, you can also Bonus Time their kick! This is a great way to hedge your bets if the ball is being held but a mascot with crappy kick stats.
• What if their Kick isn't so great or you don't want the ball? Kill the ball by having them Pass to empty space away from the rest of their team! Teams that want to play football hate a dead ball out of position and even a ball that doesn't appear to be well out of the game can force positioning issues that stretch the best Kick stats to breaking point.
• Forcing an enemy player to Snap a free ball and bring it to you. I did this against Scum in a recently while he was trying to keep the ball away from me without holding it (having been forced to Pass it to me in a previous game). Turns out you can't also have them drop the ball at your feet (sorry Nick!) as there's a big difference between the activation of a model (where you can Snap the ball) and being the active model (only active models can choose to drop the ball).
• Jog a friendly player into an unexpected location. This was especially amusing when cast on Ghast in one game allowing him to engage models that didn't have the INF to swing at him in their own activations but then couldn't move away for fear of a Knockdown Parting Blow. I also used it on Silence once at the very start of a game allowing him to Embalming Fluid a particularly clumped enemy deployment which was kind of hilarious. Turns out Masons struggle a bit when three of their players are on fire before they've left the starting zone.
• Jog an enemy player to the board edge and Push them off in the next activation.

- This said, if you can "get around" or negate Puppet Master then you are waaaay up on Obulus. He hates Siren for example; the -5" of range to Character Plays targeting her frequently takes Puppet Master off the board (it is very easy to forget she has this as it's a passive ability). Any abilities that apply INF penalities or ignore effects (the first attack or Character Play targeting Ghast, Clone etc) are pretty much gold and while they can often be creatively played around it forces the Morticians through additional hoops to regain their dominance of the control game.

- Misdirection is incredibly niche and will come up maybe once in 10+ games. And when it goes off it will cripple you. Be aware of it's existence but don't be overly stressed out about it.

- Obulus' playbook is sadly not amazing. He gets a good number of swings in with TAC 6 but the book itself is really lacking in Momentous options with only the Dodge on one hit, 2 damage on two hits, and a Push/Dodge on 5 hits. While he's capable of doing considerable damage by racking up Momentous 2 damage results (non-Momentous 3 damage on 5 hits is a rarity) it's a big sink of INF to make it happen and you can't help but feel you should have played a better game with your punchy players (Cosset, Graves, Ghast et al) instead. If he manages to wrap on the charge or with a lucky roll it's probably a non-Momentous Knockdown and some minor damage or a Momentous Dodge on the wrap - nothing to write home about and certainly nothing Ox, Tapper, or Blackheart-like to fear. He really struggles against ARM 2 models, often getting nothing more than a swell of Dodge-based Momentum and little or no damage. Also considering most turns he's spending an effective 3 INF on Puppet Master (assuming it's successful) you begin to realise that he really needs to be contributing positioning shenanigans to the rest of the team instead of going hammer and tongs on a one man Rambo mission.

- If you want to engage Obulus in combat the easy answer is you need a Melee Range 2" model to get into base contact so that he can't Unpredictable Movement away and make you flip the table. Unpredictable Movement is VERY easy to forget in the middle of the game and brain-farting just once on this can screw your whole turn. You can also play around the "once per turn" nature of this Character Trait by forcing difficult decisions from the Morticians player about when he wants to use it.

- Rigor Mortis, Obulus' Legendary Play, is another excellent endorsement of the control and denial play style of the captain himself. Timing of course is crucial and there are two issues to exploit if this LP is giving you grief:

• To get (arguably) best use out of it (i.e. the most Momentum) Obulus has to go late in the turn once a base of Momentum has been built by the opponent. Use this activation knowledge to your advantage by getting work done early and making plays with less worry about Puppet Master wrecking you.
• Spend spend spend! If you have no Momentum to take then he has no Legendary. This is of course a double-edged sword because no Momentum = no initiative in the next turn and Obulus guaranteed to go first from a position that he wants will cause you a real headache. On the flip side look for opportunities to heal players and remove conditions, making the long game more difficult for the Morticians. The other downside is that if he has no Momentum to steal, he'll be saving his LP for the next turn.
• It you end up giving the Morticians player 5-6 Momentum and Obulus is activating last, reconcile yourself to the fact that you're going second next turn and watch the Morticians player desperately try to spend their overflow of Momentum in their last activation. "Too much of a good thing" is a real possibility.

I've consistently found that the better I get at reading the opponent's team, likely activation order and overall strategy, the better I've become at timing Rigor Mortis correctly and frequently it's only used to steal 1-2 Momentum. This sounds like a waste but stay alert to players positioning for the goal kick and those that need to remove conditions (especially Knockdown and Fire which reduces their movement range and options). The crucial loss of even a small Momentum base in the middle of the turn can ruin your enemy and Obulus activating 1-2 places early in the order can be a nasty surprise! Count out INF allocation to enemy models and calculate how it can be used without Momentum and you'll get better at finding the best moments to frustrate your opponent as you screw with one of the core aspects of higher level Guild Ball gameplay.

- Pro-tip: Obulus is such a HUGE part of the Morticians turns (every turn) that once he's activated you get the chance to unclench your butthole a little. The timing of his activation is massive to the Morticians and you can sometimes use this knowledge to force the issue, get over the Obulus hump, and start to smile again (until the next turn).

- There's one other substantial hole in Obulus' game and it becomes most apparent in a tournament setting when you're on the clock. Such is the range of his options for optimal Puppet Mastering, remembering Shadow Like, keeping in 4" range for Confidence buffing and so on that his activation can take a HUGE amount of time. Once you start adding widgets and pre-measuring and proxy bases and rethinking and mind-changing to the equation you're looking at the distinct possibility of death by clock. This likely means that against a less experienced Mortician player the Obulus activation will be more straight-forward and possibly more predictable, determined in the early planning stages of the overall turn in the Maintenance Phase when INF is allocated. More experienced Morticians will have greased the wheels on a larger number of "set plays" and be more fluent and fluid in their approach when it comes to sudden surprises. It's with good reason that on the GBHL YouTube channel in the "Meet the Morticians" video, the commentators are in awe of a chap who managed with considerable success a forced 2 minute, 8 INF Obulus activation!


This game from the Armada Games YouTube channel vs Engineers illustrates the range of the Obulus game - Puppet Master to force a pass, Dodging from receiving, shooting at goal, issuing beatdowns, utilising Unpredictable Movement to escape Colossus. You can also see that between Mist and Obulus the Engineer player is under substantial pressure when returning the ball to play with a goal kick as it's incredibly difficult to keep it out of Mortician hands.


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Dirge

Mascot

Stupid Dirge. Or so I thought when I had just started playing and was even more of a complete scrub than I am now. You look at all those other sexy team mascots like Princess and Marbles and "WTF why?!?!?" Coin and bemoan being burdened with this useless feathered mess with no defensive tech and this bizarre juxtaposition of conflicting abilities. He's simultaneously designed to die a quick death while buffing your other players.

- It's reasonably easy to play around Dark Doubts - just spend all your Momentum so you have nothing to lose! Of course at the same time, you're playing into the hands of the Morticians player who all but guarantees that crucial first activation in the next turn...

- Worse for you the wretched budgie can be returned thanks to Silence having Creation [Dirge]. Killing Dirge the first time nets you the standard 2VPs (and probably loses you any Momentum you had in the bank). Killing it a second time gets you 0VPs and you still lose Momentum. While the Morticians player isn't necessarily going to go out of their way to get Dirge killed off, it does make him an incredibly frustrating annoyance as a contributing player when Crowding Out.

- Follow Up is a lot better than I first thought. The move directly towards a player leaving the bird's 1" Melee Zone is advantaged by two things:

• Flying allows you to ignore intervening models and terrain.
• As the text specifices "move" and not "Advance" it is more akin to a reposition and therefore not subject to Parting Blow attacks. So once Dirge has engaged something, with an above average jog of 8" it's going to stick like glue. 

- Gluing Dirge to an isolated player (like a Winger or Striker trying to avoid unwanted attention) on the flank creates one of those delightful "royal pain in the ass" situations for your opponent. Suddenly DEF 5+ kicks in and without Ganging Up bonuses a lot of models can spend their whole activation flailing ineffectually at the flapping menace, unable to effectively escape it's clutches thanks to Follow Up. More hoops for your opponent to jump through every turn is more fun for the Morticians player :)

- The playbook of this mascot is about as bereft of excitement as you would expect. Singled Out looks cute but you frequently have better stuff to do with even 1 INF (and your activation order) than to attempt a TAC2 Singled Out against anything DEF 4+ or better. That said, despite its somewhat niche location when combined with Follow Up, Singled Out can swing the dice math substantially (plus Confidence, obviously). Cosset with +3 TAC (Singled Out + Ganging Up) on top of her "normal" dice pool is a sight to behold (at +1 damage to boot!) and Ghast doesn't mind a carefully positioned buff to help trigger Unmasking (even if it will nearly kill the bird off!). Especially useful against a model that's already activated and has been Lured or Puppet Mastered forward into the rest of your team.

- Playing the Dirge game required careful timing and positioning to take full advantage if it's unique abilities and I quite like the meta-game, high wire balancing approach. Big unlocks to higher level play are tucked away in there and it takes some work to get consistent value.


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Silence

Central Midfielder


This chap takes a bit of getting use to from both sides of the table. As a player with one of the best Kick stats in the team (3/6" or 4/7" within 4" of Dirge) you'd be fooled into thinking that's the focus of Silence's game. But then you look at a non-Momentous Tackle on 5 hits and a single Dodge needing 3 hits and you die a little inside. So he's a man of some great inner conflict. Let's unpack...

- There's three reasons Silence is on the team. In order of importance:

• His crazy big contribution of 3 INF each turn. Amaze.
• His ability to control the board with some reliability as the 2nd or 3rd activation of the turn.
• His ability to return to play the bird of most malicious malcontent.

- It's hugely important that if you want to gamble on Tucked or Shutout you need to either man up and gird your loins (i.e. roll one dice and pray), or Bonus Time the attempt. Or both. I hate relying on either of these abilities but to be fair, depending on how well you know and understand the enemy models, a successful hit with either one at the right time can break the turn for your opponent. Tucked on a ball carrier with 1 INF for their late-turn kick is quality, as is forcing them to go last and giving you the most time possible to clobber them and steal the ball. Shutout will stop the ball carrier off-loading and passing to a friend which is also magnificent if they aren't positioned to score on goal.

Surprisingly dangerous stuff.

- Embalming Fluid is money and again plays into the control style plays for which Morticians are renowned. Movement debuffs are incredible and forcing the spending of Momentum to remove conditions helps to lock in your initiative for the following turn and reduces spending opportunities for the likes of Bonus Time and pass/receive Dodges for your opponent. Abusing the placeable nature of the AoE also means laying down Poison - don't disregard the chip damage and stacking of conditions that Bleed, Poison and Fire incur over time, and/or the inherent challenges in attempting to nullify these over the course of a turn.

- Silence's playbook is oddly damage intensive with Momentous results most likely to occur around the 2-3 hits area. With TAC5 this goes against his strangely wizardly appearance and "spell caster" Character Plays. The lack of Character Plays generated by playbook results is disappointing and requires INF to be spread wide in the Maintenance Phase, and the lack of Knockdown and Pushes (I've not yet managed a Push/Dodge - requiring 5 hits! - that would have been worthwhile) also pigeonholes his options. As previously mentioned you can't rely on him in the slightest to Tackle the ball off almost any opponent but I guess if you're looking to create miracles and highly improbably situations there's a special place where a Kick Supported Silence Snapshots! at the goal. Good luck with that!

- In my experience Silence plays around in the mid- to backfield and I'm convinced I have a lot of learning to unlock with him. His DEF 5+ doesn't do nearly enough to keep him alive and aside from that Dodge on 3 hits there's nothing special about his playbook that allows him to escape the jaws of the enemy. There are also arguably better places to stack INF if you want to put someone into the dirt. This all means you can get a good read on INF allocated to Silence and how it will be spent. One INF and the Morticians are looking for a Bonus Timed Shutout or Tucked in the 2nd-3rd activation (after gaining Momentum elsewhere). Two INF and he's looking for both or an Embalming Fluid, and so on. This makes Silence fairly predictable on the table when he's not just being an INF battery for the rest of the team (which he frequently is) and I definitely struggle with this aspect of his game - knowing how much of my hand is revealed before I play the cards can be very frustrating.


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Ghast

Centre Back


This very big, very bad man has been in almost every list I've made and with good reason. Reading around the internet there's a lot of discussion on the pros/cons and comparisons to Casket/Fangtooth and sometimes even Graves, all of them fighting for a similar spot (though with obviously enough difference to not make it clear cut). For the most however, especially when compared to his comparable peers, his game plan is both reasonably straight forward while also being horribly effective despite its relative predictability.

I knew it!!! Ghast is just a blonde Alice Cooper!

- He's not invulnerable. Between Fear and 21 boxes and a 3+/1 statline (not to mention giving up "free" Momentum when he gets damaged the first time each turn), it can initially feel insurmountable and some teams struggle more than others but if you apply enough of a blowtorch the big fella can go down. And hard. And once he's off, his jog of 4" means that he can (depending on where the scrum is) struggle to impact the game when he returns.

- The most likely outcome of his first punch in combat is a Momentous Knockdown on 2 hits. After that he can struggle to make money in the Momentum game being TAC6 and needing a mighty 4 hits to generate a Momentous damage result (as Knockdown cannot be selected if it has already been applied). The outcome of this is I have tended to use him as a "barrage o' Knockdowns" player, trying to engage 2-3 models, abusing Reach when he can, and Knocking Down as many targets as possible to make life easier for the rest of the team. This also allows you to build maximum Momentum.

- The "Ghast Jam" tactic is real. If you pick your placement carefully he can threaten multiple Parting Blows (read: Knockdowns) and Fear can completely stuff some Guilds. Be aware that models that don't spend INF to attack (Boar's initial charge attack and Berserk for example) ignore the effects of Fear. One INF cost ranged abilities (costing 2 INF for the initial attack against him) are also useful to burn the Fear penalty allowing other models to step up and do the real work. I've had this successfully used against me with Gutter's Chain Grab and Engineer shooting.

- For goodness sakes be VERY careful about putting a big guy in his sights surrounded by friends. After many games I managed to engineer three The Unmasking results in a single turn by punching a Knocked Down Stave with 3 of his nearest and dearest taking an absolute thrashing as a result (before Pushing them all into positions of great inconvenience). You certainly won't see The Unmasking in effect in every game but when it goes off good grief it can be fantastic. Again, be watchful for friendlies clumped near a big guy.


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Cosset

Winger


The Mortician's Wingers are both fascinating players that I've found to be love/hate as I read around the internet and forums, watching games on YouTube, and review lists. I personally think they're both fantastic and I love the design philosophy behind them, the differentiation in their approach, and what they add to the game.

When Guild Ball becomes a movie, she gets my vote to play the role of Cosset. Golly! Keep reading you pervs!

- Cosset is most commonly seen as a damage dealer who at full steam - Crazy, Furious, Damage Support form Dirge, maybe a Tooled up from Rage and a Confidence from Obulus - can potentially wreck house. With a "base" TAC7 she can punch out 4-5 Momentous damage on 2 and 4 hits respectively with the proper support. This is key to the Cosset damage game because unsupported she's actually pretty pathetic - a series of Momentous 2-3 damage results is obviously good but she's fighting uphill with 12 boxes (you should almost always spend to heal during her activation to recover Crazy damage) and a 4+/0 defensive statline.

- Of more interest is the clutch control plays she is capable of. Chaining Lure with Puppet Master is hilarious and you can pull an unsuspecting first/second activating enemy player right across the board for a good thrashing in the opening turn of the game. The faster the player, the better! Bear in mind that Lure is directly towards Cosset so other models and terrain may interfere with this movement.

- Screeching Banshee is yet another legit movement debuff. I'm losing count of how many movement debuff options we have in this guild. Amazing. It requires 6 hits (ergo, Crazy + Charge against a Knocked Down enemy is optimal) to achieve but movement wins games and applying this at the right time to the right model will get you up on the scoreboard in the long term.

- Taking Out Cosset is a double-edged sword because she's fast enough that she can project considerable threat from a number of vectors when returning to the pitch. She's especially happy finding a luckless Striker lurking near her goal - be wary of killing her off only to lose a key player in a more significant position. There's a few Guild Plot cards in particular that are enormously effective with her.

- Cosset's playbook is looong (7 columns!) and hugely various. She can hand out up to 6 damage in one big slap with bells and whistles up and has a useful Tackle on 3 hits.

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Graves

Winger


Another low-end contributor to the INF pool, taking Graves puts considerable focus into dealing damage and the awesome Bleed condition, while putting pressure on your INF pool and ability to resource other players. With no cost-INF Character Plays or ranged Character Traits, or friendly player buffs, Graves is all about getting into (the right) combat on his terms and getting value from his inherent abilities. He's therefore at once very direct and straight-forward, and also quite nuanced and dangerous to your own players too!

- People tend to gravitate straight towards Crucial Artery and Scything Blow but don't overlook Damaged Target. Abusing this rewards positioning and planning. There are very few movement buffs available to Morticians and this one literally turns Graves up to 11 (11 inches of threat that is!). It's also persistent - the model in question doesn't have to be damaged in that turn, just damaged full stop. It also isn't "damaged from a melee attack" so a successful Embalming Fluid that immediately causes 1 point of damage makes for quite a nice synergy.

- Following on from this, putting him around 2nd to 4th in the activation order, is a strong desire to Scything Blow all the things, not only inflicting 3 damage on everyone in his 2" Melee Range (including friendlies, not including Rage - hint, hint) but applying Bleed to them all as well. Ideally he's charging in against a previously damaged, Knocked Down target (threat 11" Charging that target, easier to hit and therefore trigger Scything Blow) and engaging a bunch of enemy models that don't themselves have 2" reach (ergo, not getting Crowded Out and suffering TAC penalities). This makes him somewhat matchup dependent. Having no Knockdown himself can also make him susceptible to reach counter-attacks but if all he's done is Scything Blow 3 models then he's actually done a lot of work (9 damage now, potentially 9 damage from Bleed, forcing spending of Momentum).

- The very rare Momentous Push (rare for Morticians) is on 2 hits in Graves' playbook, providing an easy kill for an enemy player Puppet Mastered to the board edge. Tackle (non-Momentous *sob*) on 1 hit is also uncommon and most useful on a reach model.

- Rabid Animal much like Screeching Banshee on Cosset is another gem, although it requires a mighty 6 hits to unlock. Still, Fire from Embalming Fluid combined with Heavy Burden, combined with Rabid Animal... well, you can see where this is going. There's nothing quite as frustrating as having a MOV stat of 0"/0".


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Casket

Centre Back (Guest spot: Peter Hunter)


When I started playing Morticians I immediately gravitated away from two players - Casket and Bonesaw - but as I become more experienced in the game I'm starting to think that maybe (maybe!) that was an early mistake on my part. Casket in particular seems to open up a quite different direction in both play style and opportunity.

- If you're going in on Casket, bear in mind that he's deceptively tanky. DEF 3+ is unusual for a big guy and ARM 1 + Tough Hide can really slow you down (in addition to any healing managed by the Momentum-rich Morticians). In this sense, Reanimate is the icing on the cake and grinding out another 3 damage to a model with Tough Hide isn't as easy as you would hope. Of course what will literally slow you down is forgetting to account for Foul Odour. It's the combination of these abilities that not only enables him to be more survivable than first appears on the page, but also contribute to the control game of the Morticians. Seems that 3" of rough-ground around a medium base is a lot of table space.

- Remember than Reanimate is once per turn. Seriously, if you can't kill Casket off in one turn (burning through the first Reanimate) then he can be healed back up a bit (8 boxes if you really stuff things up) and can then Reanimate again!

- Use Foul Odour to your advantage because it also affects friendly models (Pro-tip: don't get caught out by Rage ignoring friendly Character Traits and Plays!). This giant, ugly walking no-go zone of rough-ground requires Gliding to play around which in turn means needing to gain that Momentum first. Reading these requirements carefully will give you immediate insight into how the activation order must play out if Casket ends up in a place of considerable inconvenience for friendly models (and he will be inconveniently placed once he commits to a melee!). He presents a real challenge to Morticians looking to assist with Crowding Out bonuses. This also means he will often be last to contribute to a combined melee - the combination of his rough-ground and Legendary Play puts him late in the activation order.

Yeah... Casket has issues.

- The more supportive play with Casket is applying Ghostly Visage to a crucial location on the battlefield. Stack this with the Foul Odour aura and timely application of Embalming Fluid from Silence and you can slow down a whole bunch of unfortunate scumbag opposition players. This is one of his more cost-effective options - generating the 1 INF himself that he needs to apply the AOE. It can also give him the surprise jump on the enemy - his 5"/7" MOV is curiously ok in a world where charging models suffer a -6" penalty on their charge (rough-ground + ghostly Visage penalties). The TAC penalty adds further to his survivability and that of his friends (and only affects enemy models!).

- But wait... let's stack it with Heavy Burden (ideally applied with Bonus Time) for more fun. Allocating Casket 2 INF and having him activate second after gaining a point of Momentum can really stuff your opponent. Even a Light Footed, Quick Timed Shark can struggle with those numbers (-4" on the Jog, -8" on a Charge!).

- Meanwhile he's lurking and waiting patiently for the timely application of Casket Time. I've read articles that suggest if you're taking Casket then your whole team is all in on the Casket Time play for the game and I really couldn't disagree more. It's the ace up his sleeve while he mopes around slowing down enemy players and denies table space while not dying. Both players need to understand how valuable Casket Time is and how it will impact the game - the best time to apply, the optimal target, what it means for the following turn. Suffice to say if you get your captain in the coffin you are probably completely screwed. Even with the errata change to "just" delaying their return, being down not only the INF they contribute but also being behind on board position and options for even one additional turn is game-breaking. The big 'catch' with this ability is that Casket has to be the one to deliver the Take Out blow. Because the Morticians can't risk it not going off this means a Casket allocated more than 2 INF is likely a Casket looking to cause you a real headache. His playbook makes this a not totally straight-forward prospect however - TAC5 with no damage on 3 hits means he tends to do Momentous two damage with each swing. He can inflict a Knockdown himself but that's a waste of a valuable attack if he's looking to coffin something. Whole turns (not necessarily whole games) need to be built around Casket Time going off - Puppet Master something to move it into range, applying just enough damage that Casket can finish off the target etc. So much can go wrong that it turns into a Rube Goldberg machine against a canny opponent so look at it as an option in the game, not necessarily the focus. Celebrate the removal of an enemy captain when it happens, but also revel in the removal of a slow big guy who is almost out of the game completely if he goes down, or a Striker whose removal stymies goal scoring opportunities.

- Casket Time doesn't work on animals (Human models only). If a Morticians player forgets this feel free to laugh obnoxiously in their face.


Pete says!

- I've only put Casket on the table once - and wished he was Ghast - but that was back when I had zero experience with the game. Casket is definitely someone I would like more play time with against footballing teams where his damage output and player removal (Casket Time Legendary Play) could be more decisive.

- The problem is that both Casket and Ghast only produce 1 INF, wanting more than they generate and making them challenging to field at the same time. Maybe I just have to get used to running with less Influence on the pitch, but with anything lower than 13-14 I really start to feel like my guys aren't doing enough.

- This is all from my perspective of finding games against footballing teams far more compelling than the games against fighty teams where I feel behind the 8-ball from the word go and struggle to implement a successful gameplan, and instead get suckered into a fight in the middle, or even a fight across the pitch where I don't feel I can get free enough to score the points required to reliably put away the game.


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Bonesaw (Guest spots: Peter Hunter and Will Wheaton)

I am not responsible for the atrocious spelling and grammar that you overlooked the first time in this meme.

I'm sorry to say that, unlike Casket, I simply cannot reconcile myself to Bonesaw. He has a playbook absolutely flooded with Momentous results and the ability to Advance through enemy models but in my eyes he's crippled by too many associated issues:

- Swift Wind doesn't allow you to ignore Parting Blows and despite his ninja-like appearance he isn't Steady (needs more Ghost Walk - early call from me: Scalpel will be able to hand this out), nor does he have Close Control. His enormous ass (50mm base - why Steamforged, why?!) also gets in the way by itself a lot of the time. And of course you need Momentum to trigger it - you'd think this isn't exactly a problem for Morticians but then Offensive Defense wants him activating earlier in the turn rather than later. Much conflict.

"Poor Bonesaw. The one member of my Morticians that remains unassembled."- Will Wijnveld

- Kick 3/8" is legit but the otherwise weird combination of abilities seems to force you into using Bonesaw as a Snapshot! Striker which is just playing with fire.

"His Character Play makes no sense and 1" melee on him is trash." - Will Wijnveld

- It dead set feels like Close Control or Where'd They Go? (or both) would have made him. As it is I can't see a place for him on an 8-man roster when there's so much competition from Eiryss (sorry... Mist) and other players making a more varied contribution.

"I feel like they intended to give him another rule but forgot." - Will Wijnveld

- He looks like a total beast but only has 13 boxes.

"Seems fine." - Will Wijnveld (may have been referring to Nikola's money-maker, not Bonesaw's rules)

Pete says!

- All my experiences with Bonesaw have led me to wishing he was Mist. While in theory his Character Plays seem sweet I've found that having TAC4 is a real ballbuster, especially when you don't really want to have to charge with your Striker all that often, or are trying to get one of the more hit-intensive playbook results against a medium to high DEF model. 

- His Heroic Play has been good a couple of times, but I haven't felt it's enough of an upgrade to Gliding for it to be super relevant all that often. 

- Having to have your Striker activate early to go up to DEF 5+ has been problematic, especially when I don't want to commit Puppet Master or rely on Snapshots! as my goal scoring opportunities.

- Reanimate has been good a couple of times however most the time I've found that people just commit and extra 1 INF and inflict a Take Out as per usual. It's been rare that the 'once per turn' addendum has been relevant, rather than just having 3 extra hit points.


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So cheers - there's another brief article. Next time I'll be back to the Veteran's Playbook and examining the excellent design concept of the 8-man roster in tournament gaming as we edge closer to the possibility of actual for reals tournament Guild Ball in New Zealand.

Fishermen 201

I thought I would kick off what will hopefully become a long-term collective work in writing about different teams in the game, aimed slightly above the very beginner overview stages, but still relatively noobish.

There are many examples of 'summary' articles that can be found on every model in the game online, as well as the actual cards. I hope the approach in this series will therefore not be to repeat the information you can find on the cards, but to provide player summary information in the context of applied play experience, as well as discuss particular players' weaknesses without going into great detail.

Shark

Captain, Striker

• The most important thing to know about Shark is that he is without a doubt the best striker in the game. Flint and Mist might be able to score from almost anywhere with the right support, whereas Shark can score from almost anywhere by himself, as long as he has a nice stack of influence to do it. Very fast, good kick, and a playbook built around mobility - and the fact that he is a Captain!
  On top of his rock solid KICK, his mobility is unparalleled. He can get out of almost any combat with high TAC and low result dodges, then follow it up with a jog/spring/charge, some additional attacks to dodge and get momentum and then score a goal and/or lock down the enemy with G&S/feat.
•  His team buffs are movement oriented, namely Quick Foot and Tidal Surge (which can also be used on enemy models). In my experience these buffs alone are reason to always give him at least 3 influence, even when he's just come back onto the pitch. It adds a good deal of unpredictability to the Fish team, extending almost any threat range.
• Shark's other big team support lie in his movement debuffs, either via his Legendary "Caught in a Net" and Gut & String. Unlike damaging legendaries (ie. Ox, Ballista), this legendary doesn't really have an optimal use-by date, and is arguably more useful in the later stages of the game. Used very early, the Legendary will usually be used to protect Shark after scoring a superman goal, used midgame it will usually be used to stop an opponent getting to the goal kick or scoring/protecting from a goal, while late game use is usually about protecting the remaining Fishermen.
• Finally, Shark is also one of the better damage dealers in the team (along with Corsair, Jac and Kraken), with 2 damage on 3 successes and 3 on 5. Don't be afraid to use Shark's boatload of influence to take out an enemy player, even if doesn't give you any of the momentum you could be getting from his dodges and character plays. 2 takeouts, 2 goals is a pretty good win strategy for Fish against most teams.

In terms of weaknesses, the only things he really hates are KD and being taken out (he is one of the less durable captains and has no defensive tech available), although movement reductions such as Burning or Hamstring are also good ways to clamp him down a bit (outside his million dodges of course).

Look at this fine specimen of a man. Admire him.

Salt

Mascot

Salt is the worst mascot for sure, but not totally useless.

•  If Angel is around I just keep him around her for the DEF bonus. It's pretty good. He's also not bad at running to pick up missed passes.
•  He's basically +1 TAC for Jac (Ganging Up), and also protects him a little bit (Crowding Out). Then can get out of combat easily for 1 influence and be where you want him. Not too bad.
•  If you combine the two things above, then it's a respectable amount of work for the little guy. If you keep him distant enough to make your opponent go out of his way to deal with it, then good!
• If neither Angel not Jac are there, his suckitude reaches its peak. I will either use him as a goalkeeper (if playing against an aggressive football team) to reduce shots by 1 die or pick up missed shots, or play him aggressively to get in the way of charges and Gang Up/Crowd Out. If you can get him killed early in the turn and thus get a goal or two out of Loved Creature, that's not terrible either but the important part is trying to be annoying, especially to ball carriers who might take a parting blow.
•  His best trait is that being bad means people often ignore him completely, so he can often sneak out, pick up loose balls, and miss shots on goal a surprising number of times. Also sometimes his DEF 5 will save him and frustrate people, which is always hilarious.

Basically he's a 30mm base with little ability to do anything except be quite mobile UNLESS Jac and/or Angel are there, where the synergies enter the realm of "almost one third as good as Scum". He's just a little bit off where he needs to be outside of the Jac/Angel teams.


In summary, #buyflask

Visual representation on the Fishermen community whenever
we discuss our appropriately named Mascot.

Greyscales

Winger

• Greyscales embodies the slippery, slippery nature of the Fishermen. He is all about his abilities, which are about staying out of combat, getting where he wants, and controlling the ball.
• The way I usually play Greyscales is to put him on a flank such that only one or two enemy models can potentially get to him, most likely enemy models without reach who can't hurt him due to Unpredictable Movement. As such, he can control a large part of the board and pick up loose balls and goals kicks, either scoring himself or passing it over to someone who can.
• In terms of ball control, he has a Tackle on 2 and "Ball's Gone!" on 4, which gets around Close Control and such jank. He's not the best kicker, but with a momentum to Bonus Time he's usually able to hit it home with his high mobility. A very good player for late game clutch plays, since he'll usually be one the players left on the field in a reasonable position.

Greyscales, when he was but a lad.

His weaknesses are:
a) if you focus him with quantity (as opposed to quality) of attacks, he will go down hard. 4+/0 with 15 boxes goes down surprisingly quick once you get around Decoy, Unpredictable and his counteratttack -> dodge out tricks. The flipside of this is that it makes space for the other Fish.
b) Outside of being mobile and hard to pin down, he doesn't contribute a whole lot. He's an average kicker (for the Fish), his damage output is crap, he doesn't stop the enemy team doing anything, he doesn't buff anyone else. He just slips around and plays the ball. If you can hide the ball from him, he does almost nothing to be scared of.

NB: Decoy works only against the next 'Attack', which applies only to melee attacks and not character plays. Think of it as a bad version of Gluttonous Mass for 1 which gives you at chance at counter attack rather than death.

Angel

Striker

• Angel is the best kicker in the game - not the best striker, but the best kicker at 5/10" with Super Shot without any external help. Throw in some buffs like Corsair's legendary, Shark's Quick Foot or Tidal Surge, and her goal-scoring threat gets slightly ridiculous.
• Unlike other strikers though, she lacks mobility and easy access to dodges. While her playbook looks good with a momentous Tackle on 1, and dodges on 2 and 4, with a TAC of 4, she will often have trouble getting the results without a charge or a little assistance. Her lack of reach compounds this, meaning she has a harder time getting out of combat. In summary: she needs a lot support in terms of mobility and survivability.
• As such, Angel is best used as a turret - standing in a good spot with Nimble + Salt nearby puts her at DEF 6, and with Super Shot up can pretty reliably put Snap Shots in the goal even while engaged. Usually you try to get a first or second turn goal with her, then leave her on the enemy half of the field with her buffs up to try and get another goal (either via a pass, or by stealing the ball with that momentous Tackle on 1 and then scoring straight away).
• Speaking of first turn goals, she has an easier time of this than many others thanks to her +1/+1 INF buff if she starts within 4" of Shark. Past turn 2 however, I don't think you will ever get this bonus given Shark's need to stay on the move to live/make plays.

Weaknesses? Baseline 4+/0 with 12 boxes means she gets wrecked without the proper support. She is also vulnerable to KD as it stops her moving and kicking, not to mention the decrease in DEF. Similar to Greyscales, she also contributes nothing besides the ability to kick the ball really well - no damage, no control, no buffs, no positioning tricks.

Jac

Defensive Midfielder

• Jac - the Brawler. An accurate nickname, given that Jac is one of the toughest and most combat-capable Fishermen. He's quite resilient: 3+/1 and 15 boxes isn't stellar, but with Tough Hide he can usually stay in the fight for a bit against teams that don't stack a lot of damage buffs. As a defensive midfielder, Jac does well holding the centre of the pitch and disrupting the enemy.
• He is also one of the best damage dealers in the Fishermen - 2 damage on 3 successes and 3 damage on 4. TAC 5 (usually TAC 6 with Salt on the table) helps get these results. And at a 3/6" KICK, he's not bad with the ball either.
• While Fish usually like to dodge, Jac likes to push. Momentous Push on 2 and Momentous 2" Pushes on 5 successes. He also has Ramming Speed for 1 influence, and a sweet heroic play (the only one in Fishermen) that pushes all enemies within 3" a grand 4" directly away. For 2 influence and a momentum (which he usually generates himself), he can push someone up to 7"! If an enemy is on the wings, Jac can charge in and shove almost anyone off the board.

For his weaknesses, he can't unengage from combat without Parting Blows as easily as most other Fishermen. As such, he doesn't fit into the standard Fish gameplan of staying out of combat and scoring goals, which means that he can often get isolated and focused if left entirely unsupported.

Kraken

Centre Back

• Kraken is a tar pit. He pulls people in and holds them there. His best skill by far is his momentous KD on 1 combined with reach - if you do not have dodges or pushes on your playbook, you are probably not getting out of combat, especially if you don't have reach. He can also convert influence to momentum 1-to-1 quite effectively with this result.
• He is also pretty good at dealing damage. 2 damage on 2 successes, 3 damage on 4. And you get almost his entire playbook on 5 successes (Release the Kraken = KD, 6" Push, 3 damage. Baller). If you have a mildly soft KD opponent already in front of you and no Crowding Out or anything, go to town with damage results!
• His last sweet trick is that he brings some bursty repositioning to the Fish (like Siren), in the form of Harpoon and Release the Kraken. Harpoon is an excellent skill for a tarpit to have to bring desirable targets out of position and into Kraken's loving arms, and Release the Kraken is great for slamming models off the pitch or into irrelevance under Shark's legendary.

The downside is that despite having all the tools to tarpit, he is still a big guy with 2+/1 and only Tough Hide to protect him and his 20 boxes. Teams that can stack damage or wraps like Butchers or Brewers will mop him up quick if left to their own devices, and his slow speed means he will take a while to get back into action. On top of that, he brings only one influence and usually demands his full 3.

Siren

Winger

• Siren does one thing, and one thing well - she messes with your opponents. She is basically a baby Obulus.
• Lure is excellent when used to move either an enemy model that has yet to activate away from where it wishes to go, or an enemy model that has already activated to bring it in for a beating/really bad position for next turn. It combos well with Shark's movement debuffs or other repositions (ie. pushes, harpoons).
• Seduced is her big money play, available on either 3 successes for 3 influence (thus sometimes worthwhile to charge in or simply hit a low to mid DEF model with her TAC 3). It is basically a baby Puppet Master, and you can make an enemy model within 6" make an attack or pass the ball once per turn. Excellent way to get the ball back in your hands.
• Despite her pathetic hit points and 4+/0 stat line, she has a handful of defensive abilities that can protect her in the right situation:
  - Beautiful gives -5 RNG on character plays targetting her. This makes her excellent vs teams like Engineers who rely a lot on these accurate shots, or protects her from Puppet Master! Also a good choice for the initial kicker vs such teams, as she can then Seduce the ball right back and be safe thanks to her mysterious
  - Charmed [Male] brings her to 5+ DEF vs most models in the game.
  - Protected [Kraken] gives her 1 ARM if Kraken is nearby, and to be honest they play very well together. She is best used as a backline model anyway, since you want to keep her safe until she does a big play, and her high base speed allows her to get around the battlefield and gives her abilities a significant threat range.
  -2" reach, low dodges on playbook... the Fishermen specialty.
• And at the end of the day, she's also a decent kicker at who can help you move the ball around. 

If you're looking for weaknesses, read the bit about the pathetic hit points and 4+/0 stat line, and avoid the things that follow it :). Not to mention the characteristic crap damage output, low TAC and only having a Tackle on 3 successes. She does one thing well - the rest, she's not so good at.

Season 2:

I haven't had much experience with Corsair yet, so I'll only write about Sakana for the moment.

Sakana

Striker

The most important thought I have about Sakana: he always feels relevant.

•  He can score goals and play ball: He's potentially fast enough to get where he wants with a good base MOV and Cover of Darkness. His playbook has some very strong movement results, which he usually gets due to Anatomical Precision. He's also good kicker - not at good as Angel or Shark but certainly good enough to put the ball in the net.
  Especially good in a dual Striker team, he is stellar at being put on a flank with some cover and waiting for goal kicks or long passes.
•  He can support his team: He has an ARM debuff in Weak Point (huge in Fishermen in my experience) which makes him excellent vs teams like Union, Masons and Brewers. He can also drop cover from a long range away on exposed teammates. Dropping a cloud early in the turn with spare influence gives your team some additional options in advancing up the field.
•  He's pretty survivable, at least for Fish and a Striker: He gets a free counter attack, even when you lose first turn, and if he can't get out of combat with it then he can just apply an ARM debuff to help him/the team get out later. Respectable HP, stats at 4+/1 and a fondness for hanging around cover.
• Basically, he's always got game, whether he goes early, or late. He might not be the best at any of those things, but he is good at all of them.

He also doesn't feel like he has any uncharacteristic weaknesses that stand out, other than not being excellent at any one aspect of the game. Like most Fish, he is vulnerable to knock down and/or focused aggression, and his damage output is pretty terrible (however he does have ONE momentous damage result when applying Weak Point).